I also had an extremely positive experience with Elizabeth Bell. I am 29/f/single traveling alone, and I went to Guatemala (specifically Antigua) for July 4th weekend 2011. I took her walking tour the first day and I thought it was fantastic. She knows an exceptional amount of historical and current information about Antigua and very clearly plays a public role in shaping local tourism. I can't recommend it highly enough, and at $20 it was a bargain. How often does one tour a museum with a guide that played a significant role in *designing that very museum*?? It seemed no one could come up with a question that would stump her. In her explanations she was concise, frank, and fair about Guatemala's challenges and triumphs.

After the tour, I expressed to her that I desperately wanted to arrange to go to Tikal (by plane) but had just 24 hrs to arrange the trip. Granted, due to her limited technical skills she was not able to book the trip at that moment for me in her office. However she arranged for her colleague (whom she described as a 'miracle worker') to meet with me at their secondary office the next morning. That woman pulled various strings and was able to get me on a flight to Tikal, and arrange a guide, for the very next morning. The flight was either full or very nearly full, and we were trying to arrange it on a Sunday, so it was not an easy feat. She called multiple phone numbers for the only two airlines running flights, got no answer numerous times, and on the 6th or 7th attempt landed an actual person. I didn't have my debit card on me so I bolted back to my hotel thinking she would probably hang up and we would never make contact with a human again, but when I returned she already had my ticket booked and all of the paperwork filled out and waiting for me. Essentially, she trusted that I would return with my money and booked the trip for me while I got the money to pay her. This is not exactly typical in developing countries regardless of the level of professionalism exhibited by the tour operator. As I was leaving her office I asked what I should do if there was a problem in the morning, as the car for the airport was scheduled to pick me up at 4am. She hesitated, then gave me a phone number that I can only presume was her personal cell phone, but assured me that I wouldn't have any trouble. She was right.

In short, 'above and beyond' is an understatement with regards to Elizabeth Bell's agency. I found her prices to be somewhat above the going rate for tour operators in Antigua, but in this case, I got what I paid for. I watched her book trips for two other families and they received the same superior level of service that I enjoyed.

I used Elizabeth Bell last month to take us on a hike up Pacaya volcano and then transport us Antigua-Copan Ruinas-Puerto Barrios-Livingston over 3 days. The whole thing ran like clockwork, the driver was excellent and cool-headed.

I was also able to pay in advance by credit card for the whole thing, reducing the need to carry lots of cash or use fraud-susceptible ATM's.

I thoroughly recommend using this company !

I concur!! I just had my walking tour with Elizabeth Bell. She has a thorough knowledge all about Antigua and Guatemala. I can't recommend her enough as I was just flabbergasted with all her deep knowledge. It's $20 for walking tour, a bit hurried but you got to see alot from historical buildings, architectural styles, crypts, mayan culture and 17th century statues ( who has the best baroque style of expression ever made by the guatemalans) and the private collection inside the Paseo de los Museos inside the fancy Santo Domingo hotel. Love it!

For those who may be traveling with babies:

I recently contacted a couple different shuttle companies based out of Antigua to see who could accommodate an infant child seat. So far Elizabeth is the only one to have written back to me: they can provide a child seat (although not rear facing) or they can let us use our own. If you use your own you need to let them know ahead of time so they can be sure there will be a seat belt that can secure it. There is also no extra charge for the use of the baby seat (hers or your own) -- it just gets charged like a regular seat. The baby seat can be used on shared shuttles as well as private ones (but of course you have to let them know in advance).

Yes, we did her walking tour and loved it. We loved all the history she shared with us and she took the time to customize the tour to what we were interested in (me - government, husband - history, other tourist with us - museums) We highly recommend this tour as a great way to get an overview of the city while also learning a lot of history!

I also had a great experience with Antigua Tours. Elizabeth and her staff set up my trip. Then, when there was a small problem, Ismar 'fixed' it in record time. I also took the tour up into the villages with Sergio. What a great trip! He definitely knew the villages and he was a real pleasure to have as a guide.. I thought all the drivers with the shuttles were extremely professional: courteous, on time, good drivers.I would always use Elizabeth's company when travelling around Guatemala.

I am using her services as I write this to plan for my trip this November. She is fantastic. I'm sure there are many good ones out there, but she certainly has my vote!

My daughter and I took the private tour of Pacaya and were thoroughly impressed with the service we received. Due to our schedule limitations, we were unable to book the hike until 4PM on Friday for a 6AM hike. No problem - both our driver, Walter, and our guide, Ronnie did their jobs excellently. They were both very courteous and professional; engaging and conversant and they are both fine gentlemen. We felt very safe and comfortable with Ronnie guiding us and it appeared he was a step above many of the other guides we saw in terms of knowledge of the terrain, etc.

As a sidenote, for those wondering about the difficulty of the hike, my daughter and I (23 and 51 yrs old) had no problems, but we're pretty fit people. We both agreed that if you can jog 1.5 - 2 miles with no real discomfort, you should be fine. Otherwise you're probably going to make very frequent stops and/or "take the taxi", meaning pay one of the many available horsemen for a ride.

We highly recommend Antigua Tours.

Can someone tell us how to contact Elizabeth Bell? We found an Antigua Tours online but they have a tolfree number in Atlanta and I don't think it's right.